Construction Management

Students who choose the construction management emphasis will complete courses in business administration, communication, construction management, engineering, and statistics in addition to completing the general requirements for an engineering science degree.

• Principles of Management: An introductory course in management theory and practice. Major topics covered include planning and strategic management, organizational design, leadership and motivation theory, and control mechanisms.
• Small Group Communication: A study of the theory and practice of group problem-solving in cooperative face-to-face discussion; the development of awareness and understanding of group dynamics, and the presentation of panel, symposium, and dialogue.
• Interpersonal Communication: The study of concepts, problems, and responsibilities in communication between two or more persons, focusing on conversation with consideration of many variables and contexts.
• Principles of Construction Management: An introductory survey course in construction management that begins by building a Christian perspective on the task and calling of a construction manager or construction engineer. The course introduces methods of construction project planning, scheduling, delivery, quality, and control. It also introduces construction contract types, construction cost estimating and accounting, along with an overview of construction method, practice, and safety.
• Construction Communication and Architectural Graphics: This lab studio course introduces architectural and construction communication by practicing methods of construction documentation and preparation. The course will introduce students to basic plan reading. Construction planning computer applications and architectural computer-aided drafting will be explored and practiced.
• Geographic Information Systems and Surveying: Even An introduction to the acquisition, analysis, display, manipulation, and management of geographic information. Course topics will include geographical data input, storage, maintenance, analysis, and retrieval. Students will utilize common GIS software and associated hardware. An overview of survey methods used to gather and quantify features of physical geography will be included. The course will meet in two studio lab classes to provide an integral learn-by-doing experience applying GPS technology, survey methods, and GIS applications. Application of GIS to agriculture, business, environmental management, and other disciplines will be provided in this course.
• Construction Materials and Methods: A comprehensive study of the properties, sources, processing, methods, sequences, and equipment used in residential and commercial construction projects. Planning and managing of the construction process, including an introduction to structural and finish systems that make up building structures, are investigated. Appropriate application and responsible use of materials for design and functional intent is investigated. The environmental impact of construction is discussed.
• Construction Safety and Quality: A study of safety and quality control as it relates to construction management. An emphasis on the legal and financial impacts of safety and quality management is included, as well as a discussion of the ethical and regulatory issues involved. Causes and effects of safety and quality deficiencies in construction and the related methods to minimize these deficiencies.
• Mechanical and Electrical Systems: A study of the construction of mechanical and electrical systems, emphasizing principles of heating, cooling, ventilation, water supply, waste disposal, and electrical distribution. An introduction to mechanical, electrical, and plumbing codes and design software included. Energy conservation issues, sustainable design principles, and use of renewable energy are addressed.
• Project Management: This course is an introduction to the field of project management. The primary objective is to acquaint students with a broad basic overview of project management and the role of a project manager throughout the five primary processes of managing projects. The course will also cover common agile methodologies and principles because of how they relate to project management. The agile project management process encourages frequent inspection and adaptation, teamwork, accountability, self-organization, best practices that allows for rapid delivery and high quality, and a business approach that aligns development with customer needs and company goals. Prerequisite: sophomore standing.
• Construction Estimating: An introduction to construction estimating and bid preparation with an emphasis on quantity takeoff. Includes a detailed study and application of pricing, subcontract evaluation, and bidding techniques using blueprints and specifications. Project types studied include residential, light commercial, and commercial building projects.
• Risk Management for Construction: A study of the systematic process used to minimize the degree of uncertainty and control risks in construction projects. An emphasis on identifying, analyzing, assessing, mitigating, transferring, and monitoring risk is included, as well as processes to implement risk management strategies at all stages in a construction project.
• Statics: A mechanics course that examines the effects of forces and moments applied to rigid and deformable bodies in equilibrium. Students will analyze concentrated and distributed force systems applied to static particles, rigid bodies, trusses, frames, and machines.
• Dynamics: A mechanics course that examines the kinematics and kinetic analysis of particle systems and rigid bodies.
• Mechanics of Materials: A solid mechanics course that examines the stresses, strains, and deformations that develop when various loads (tension, compression, torsion, bending, or any combination of these loads) are applied to deformable bodies. Elements of structural design are introduced using safety factors and failure criteria for ductile materials. The mechanics design laboratory provides an introduction to experimental methods, hands-on experience applying and using strain gages and investigating beam loading, and an introduction to finite-element analysis (FEA) software.
• Structural Analysis: A study of the analysis of trusses, beams, and framed structures. Students will learn how to determine loads on structures, including dead loads, live loads, and environmental loads. Shear, moment, and deflected shape diagrams will be considered. Deformation calculations, approximate analysis methods, flexibility methods, and stiffness methods for the analysis of indeterminate beams and frames will be considered. Influence lines for determinate and indeterminate beams will be introduced.
• Soil Mechanics and Foundation Design: A study of the engineering principles relating to soil properties and foundation design. The material properties of soil including structure, index properties, permeability, compressibility, and consolidation will be explored. Methods of soil testing, identification, and remediation will be covered. Principles of settlement and stresses in soils will be considered. Slope stability, retaining walls, and bearing capacity of shallow foundations will be introduced. The soils lab will provide hands-on opportunities to determine water content, perform sieve analyses, and test liquid, plastic, and shrinkage limits. Soil classification, compaction, compression, and consolidation testing will be explored.
• Elements of Materials Science: Studies the relationship between structure and properties of various materials, including metals, ceramics, polymers, and semiconductors. Students will learn how atomic and molecular arrangements, as well as manufacturing processes, influence the mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of a material. Introductory topics in metallurgy in this course include the examination of effects of processing (heat treatment and manufacturing) and service environment on microstructure and properties. Laboratory explorations in materials engineering introduce concepts in experimental design and data analysis.
• Linear Circuits and Electronics: Assumes a prerequisite knowledge of DC electrical circuits, including the definitions of electrical quantities, circuit elements (sources, resistors, capacitors, inductors), understanding of Kirchhoff’s laws and basic concepts in AC circuits such as frequency and phase. Topics in this course include: general linear circuit analysis including Norton’s and Thevenin’s theorems; superposition; nodal and loop analysis; natural and forced responses in RLC circuits; and sinusoidal steady state analysis. The course also gives introductions to operational amplifier circuits, single stage BJT transistor circuits, and steady-state balanced 3-phase power calculations. The lab includes a formal design project.
• Introduction to Thermal-Fluids: An introduction to the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer principles, including energy, work, heat, properties of pure substances, the first and second laws, and other thermal-fluid relations.
• Thermal-Chemical Systems: Engineering thermodynamics applied to chemical, energy, and environmental systems. Students will study cycles and efficiencies, mixtures and solutions, chemical reactions, chemical and phase equilibrium, combustion thermodynamics, availability analysis, gas mixtures and psychrometrics, and thermal-fluid systems analysis. Applications to chemical reactors, combustion systems, emissions measurement, efficiency assessment, and indoor/outdoor air quality will be explored.
• Fluid Mechanics: A comprehensive, introductory course in fluid mechanics covering: hydrostatics; control volume approach to the continuity, momentum, and energy equations; dimensional analysis, similitude, and modeling; introductory boundary layer theory; fluid drag and lift; flow through conduits, pumps and compressors; and hydraulics and open channel flow. All students participate in team design projects involving design of water supply, irrigation, air handling system, or other complex fluid dynamics system.
• History of Science and Technology: Enables the student to examine from a Reformed, biblical perspective the narrative of scientific unfolding and technological development as two human activities that are manifest in all cultures. Emphasis is on the major paradigms and events that have shaped the development of science and technology in the West and most recently in North America. The course focuses on the historical activity of engineers and artisans, while investigating the interrelationship between scientific thought and technological development. Events and ideas such as the philosophical origins of Western science, the Copernican revolution, Enlightenment rationalism, the industrial revolutions, 20th century positivism, the Einsteinian revolution, and the modern systemization ethic are discussed.
• Environmental Engineering: An introduction to water supply and wastewater treatment, solid waste management, hazardous waste disposal, pollution control equipment, and other topics relating to the engineer’s role for ensuring clean air and providing clean water to communities. Methods and equipment for monitoring and testing air and water quality will be examined.
• Sustainable Energy Systems Design: A senior-level design course that focuses on designing energy systems for conservation, sustainability, and efficiency. Methods of auditing energy utilization and design principles for energy conservation are addressed as are solar and renewable energy technologies for meeting residential, commercial, and industrial energy needs. A variety of computer tools will be used for system analysis. A design studio component may incorporate tours, community service projects, and design projects relating to energy utilization and conservation.
• Reinforced Concrete Design: Analysis and design of reinforced concrete beams, columns, one-way slabs, and frames. The design of members for axial load, flexure, shear, deflections, bond, and anchorage will be considered. Design will be based primarily on ACI strength design methods.
• Structural Steel Design: A study of design and behavior of steel members and structures. The design of steel beams, columns, tension members, frames, trusses, and simple connections will be considered. Design will be based primarily on AISC specifications related to the load and resistance factor design method. Allowable stress design will be introduced.
• Introductory Statistics: An introductory course in statistical techniques and methods and their application to a variety of fields. Topics include data analysis, design of experiments, and statistical inference including confidence intervals and hypothesis testing. Exposure to statistical software and a substantive student project are also part of this course.
• Accelerated Introductory Statistics: This course covers the same content and learning objectives as Statistics 131 but in half the time. This course, along with Statistics 202 and Statistics 203, also serves as preparation for Actuarial Exam SRM. Additionally this course, along with Statistics 202, Statistics 203, Statistics 220 and Statistics 352, serves as preparation for Actuarial Exam MAS I. Offered first half of spring semester.

See the course catalog for more information